Document Type

Journal Article

Publication Date

2-1-2017

Journal

EBioMedicine

Volume

15

Inclusive Pages

12-23

DOI

10.1016/j.ebiom.2016.11.034

Abstract

Cancer may be induced by many environmental and physiological conditions. Infections with viruses, bacteria and parasites have been recognized for years to be associated with human carcinogenicity. Here we review current concepts of carcinogenicity and its associations with parasitic infections. The helminth diseases schistosomiasis, opisthorchiasis, and clonorchiasis are highly carcinogenic while the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, the causing agent of Chagas disease, has a dual role in the development of cancer, including both carcinogenic and anticancer properties. Although malaria per se does not appear to be causative in carcinogenesis, it is strongly associated with the occurrence of endemic Burkitt lymphoma in areas holoendemic for malaria. The initiation of Plasmodium falciparum related endemic Burkitt lymphoma requires additional transforming events induced by the Epstein-Barr virus. Observations suggest that Strongyloides stercoralis may be a relevant co-factor in HTLV-1-related T cell lymphomas. This review provides an overview of the mechanisms of parasitic infection-induced carcinogenicity.

Comments

This is an open access PubMed Central article. Click on link for full-text access.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Peer Reviewed

1

Open Access

1

Download

Share

COinS